Only 5% Of Doctoral Applicants Are Accepted By Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School.

How hard is it to get into Harvard Business School‘s doctoral program?

Pretty hard. Last year, only 5% of the applicants were accepted by the school. That’s less than half the current acceptance rate of 12% for Harvard’s full-time MBA program. It also matches the acceptance rate for undergraduate candidates at Yale University and the University of Chicago.

Harvard said it received 852 applications for its doctoral program in fiscal 2024 ending on June 30th. That application volume is down significantly from 2021 when 995 candidates applied for admission. The school accepted roughly 43 applicants last year and about 25 enrolled in the doctoral program which boasts total enrollment of 126 students to its doctoral program in 2024. The figures come from the school’s annual financial report.

DOCTORAL STUDENTS GAIN FELLOWSHIPS THAT TOTAL NEARLY HALF A MILLION IN FUNDING

All admitted students receive a fellowship that covers tuition, health insurance, and fees, as well as a living stipend. The 2024-2025 stipend is $54,750, allocated over 12 months. HBS students have guaranteed funding for up to five years with the possibility of a sixth-year extension. The estimated fellowship over 5 years is roughly $461,200.

More surprising, however, is the doctoral program’s yield–the percentage of accepted applicants who enroll. Last year, nearly half of the candidates invited into the program declined to go, either because they got better offers elsewhere or for personal reasons decided to opt out. Only 54% of those accepted to Harvard’s doctoral program actually enrolled, down significantly from a yield rate of 87% five years ago in 2020 (see table below).

Yield for the program, in fact, has been declining consistently for the past five years and it is well below the yield rate of 85% for Harvard’s full-time MBA program.

In all, Harvard Business School has seven PhD programs, ranging from accounting and management to technology and operations management.